


Damn Pirates

by Freebooter4Ever



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Freebooters, M/M, Near Death, No one dies though, no one actually gets scurvy either, swashbucklers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23202484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freebooter4Ever/pseuds/Freebooter4Ever
Summary: Pirate AU in which Sledge is a spoiled Governor's son and Snafu a famed Pirate Captain. Featuring Snafu's scurvy paranoia, a ship battle, sword fights, daring jail escapes, disguises, and masked balls.
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Snafu POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one starts after Persipnei's introduction:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/20134909/chapters/48058984

Whenever faced with impending mental anguish and indecisiveness, Snafu retreats to the peace and quiet of his Captain's Quarters and surrounds himself with all his favorite maps. Maps are easier to read than people. And he has enough to last his lifetime.

There isn't a surface in the tiny cramped space not covered in maps. Large, detailed maps, with scribbly corrections done in Snafu's own writing. Most cartographers base their maps off second hand collected and theoretical knowledge when they chart the coastlines. Snafu, however, has the worldly experience necessary to draw his maps from memory. He hasn't exactly gone  _ everywhere _ yet, but he's gotten pretty close.

He shuffles through the papers with more force than is probably warranted. He goes through three giant piles before he finally uncovers an old handheld mirror. It's cracked, and weather beaten, but it'll do the trick. Baring his teeth in front of the glass he sticks a finger under his lip and pokes around. Nothing  _ hurts _ exactly, but there is a tightness to his chest that makes him nervous. One tooth he pokes actually wiggles a little, and that makes him even more nervous.

He shoves open the cabin door and yells, "Burgie!"

His Quartermaster appears almost instantly.

"Find  _ His Majesty _ . Send him to my cabin," Snafu says.

Burgie agrees, looking extremely tired.

Snafu shuts himself back in, sits on his bed (which takes up almost as much space as the maps) and continues turning the mirror this way and that, trying to get a better angle. He manages to position the mirror in a way so that he can very nearly see the backside of his teeth before Sledge quietly lets himself into the room.

"What do you want?" Sledge asks, sullen.

Snafu smirks. He knows Sledge still considers himself a cut above the crew. The boy doesn't like it when Snafu tries to order him about.

Sledge always follows orders though.

Snafu gestures to the space in front of him, "You said your father's a doctor. I want a thorough examination."

"You're joking," Sledge deadpans.

Snafu kicks a velvet covered stool in Sledge's direction and leans back on his hands, waiting patiently.

Sledge sighs miserably and straddles the stool. He scoots forward until his knees knock against Snafu's. Snafu holds completely still, barely breathing, until Sledge gently takes hold of Snafu's jaw and guides his mouth open. Snafu could almost describe Sledge's touch as delicate, if he were the type to use such vocabulary.

"Your breath stinks," Sledge complains and completely ruins the mood Snafu is trying to build.

"Yeah?" Snafu grins.

Sledge rolls his eyes and focuses on the task at hand.

Sledge's hands are soft, and clean. Too damn clean to be anywhere near Snafu's mouth. But Sledge examines Snaf's teeth and gums anyway, and has him move his tongue around to inspect every bit. It all seems very procedural and official. And by the end of it Snafu's left front teeth hurt like hell, right down to the bone.

So he isn't surprised by Sledge's eventual diagnosis.

Snafu makes the announcement right before dinner. He wears his biggest hat. Straps his sword to his belt for show. Usually he does without weaponry as a whole while on the boat. He trusts his crew enough. They're like family. Better than, even.

His crew watches him, trustingly, as he tells them they'll be turning around. That the big score he's been planning for over six months will have to wait. It means longer hours with less food. And no recreational time at port.

As Snafu makes his speech, he eyes Eugene Sledge, who stands off in a corner, arms crossed, face set in stone. Snafu wonders if Sledge is aware just how costly his request actually is.

Snafu trusts his crew with his life. But in under four months the communal treasury will be gone, and if he hasn't replenished it by then, he will be gone too. They wouldn't kill him. But they'd leave him in the nearest port and take his ship, in which case he might as well be dead.

"We're going to Mobile, to see this Governor-Doctor," Snafu concludes, looking straight at Sledge while he does, "And if it turns out we don't got scurvy, we'll take  _ his majesty _ 's ransom" he pantomimes a salute to Sledge, "...and kill him."

The crew jeers.  _ None _ of them like Sledge.

Snafu's eyes trail down Sledge's lean neck, watching intently as the man swallows anxiously. Snafu expected Sledge to be smug, triumphant. Instead all Snafu sees is fear.

Fear is not the look Snafu wants from Eugene Sledge, but it's the one he is most accustomed to. It's only natural it's the one he'd continue to seek out.

Snafu returns to his quarters and locks the door.

He only reappears hours later, on the edge of twilight. The sun is no longer relentless, and the sea is calm for once. These evening hours have become his time to hold court. Wherever he ends up perching on the ship, his men will find him and air any grievances. It's a daily reminder that his Captaincy is communal rather than appointed. Even if he is the one with a formal claim to the ship.

Formal in that he stole it first.

While sitting outside in the open sea air, he sorts through the problems of his crew as they come up one by one. Three pirates have money troubles, two women are in a domestic disagreement, and one man had something nasty to say about the cat - and then finally Burgie slides in next to Snafu. It's nearly dark, and this nook under the bow they're squatting in makes the shadows pitch black. It's similar to the opening of the tiny storage space Snafu first stowed away in as a kid. Not a lot of unused space on a ship. But a skinny half starved child can fit in almost any cranny with the right motivation. He had been caught halfway through the voyage, and forced to swab decks for the rest of the journey.

"You don't have it," Burgie says without preamble.

Snafu cuts his eyes towards the ship's quartermaster with suspicion.

"Haven't you wondered why we've had zero cases of scurvy since I came on board?" Burgie asks.

"Just thought we were lucky, I guess," Snafu drawls and takes a smoke.

"Last crew I sailed with, the Captain decided to do an experiment," Burgie starts.

Snafu leans back, settles in, and gets comfortable; ready for another one of Burgie's long stories. Quartermaster Burgin has more wisdom than most of the crew combined, Snafu included. If only they'd have the patience to listen to him.

"After he went to Asia, he learned that lemons were said to be able to prevent scurvy on long voyages," Burgie explains, "So, he gave the crew of his command ship three spoonfuls of lemon juice every day while the rest of the ships in his fleet did without. The men on the other ships started dropping like flies. Most of them didn't make it. I had to transfer to one of the scurvy syricken ships just to help bring her in to port. It was cruel, the conditions that bastard put us in. To use us as test cases. It was mere luck I ended up on the command ship. Switched with a friend. He held out till the final week before he succumbed."

Snafu grunts to show he is paying attention.

"I jumped ship after that," Burgie concludes with a look of disgust, "Couldn't stay. Not with watching that kind of treatment and being helpless to do anything about it."

"You say your last Captain made it to Asia?" Snafu asks, picking out the one part of this that matters to him.

That's where Snafu wants to go. The Pacific Ocean.

Burgie sighs, "Snaf, I ordered our cook to give everyone daily lemon rations for a reason. You don't have scurvy, and if you keep taking my elixir you never will. Eugene  _ lied _ ."

"Eugene Sledge," Snafu extends the name as long as it can go, testing his limits. He grins down at the water below him. "Pretty little rich boy with hair like copper. Do you think he's ginger down there too?"

Burgie scoffs and stands to leave, "If you're taking him home because you want to fuck him, fine. But don't pretend like you're doing this for the health of the crew."

"Everyone knows scurvy's a luck game," Snafu taunts, still grinning.

"If you'd rather trust luck than me, you better be careful when yours runs out," Burgie warns kindly. He turns his back on his Captain.

"Burgie?" Snafu stops him just before he goes.

Burgie turns, questioning.

"Don't tell nobody," Snafu says. His face grows somber and he looks the quartermaster dead in the eye, "I don't want to kill him."

Burgie looks sad. But he nods.

  
  
  
  
  


A couple nights later Snafu seeks out Sledge himself, after he's had some time to think.

"The sailors cut my hammock again," Sledge complains the minute Snafu sits down next to him, "Got nowhere to sleep."

Snafu doesn't answer. 

Sledge brings his troubles with the crew mostly on himself. He makes no effort to learn anything about sailing, or to pitch in and lighten the duties of the sailors he's demanding work from as they take him home. He doesn't even know enough about knots to tell when a rope has been cut or merely untied.

No one cuts rope on a ship unless it's an emergency.

Instead of saying all that, Snafu lights his pipe tobacco, and passes it to Sledge. 

Sledge characteristically refuses the smoke.

They sit in silence that's almost companionable for an entire watch. Some of the crew pass by, as if wanting to talk to their Captain, but no one bothers them. Eventually they're given a wide berth and left completely alone.

Snafu seizes his chance. He sucks in his bottom lip. Then releases it.

He doesn't know how to start this conversation, even if he knows he needs to do it.

"Liars never prosper," Snafu drawls.

Sledge sits up very straight. "You're a pirate," the boy says, "thought all your old breed did was lie?"

"Naw," a smile drifts across Snafu's face despite himself, "Gotta stick to the code. No lying."

Eugene immediately gets defensive, "All I want is to  _ go home _ . I'm not asking for anything else."

Snafu casts his eyes to the sky. He is sick of hearing the same line over and over. "You are," he says, exasperated, "Going home. So don't be dumb and tell the crew I don't have scurvy."

"Wasn't planning on it," Eugene snaps.

"Good," Snafu says, equally harsh.

"Glad we've come to an understanding then," Eugene quips.

It takes every good samaritan bone buried deep in Snafu's body to not shove Sledge off the ship's rail and back into the water he plucked the boy out of then and there.

Or maybe it's just that Snafu wants one certain good samaritan buried deep in him that he's being so unusually lenient. He's not thinking very straight at the moment.

"The offer to sleep in my quarters still stands," Snafu says calmly in a final answer to Sledge's first problem, "Bed's big enough for two."

Sledge laughs caustically.

"I won't try anything," Snafu says defensively. He finally looks Eugene in the eye to convey that he's being genuine. "I promise." Snafu's last two words are only  _ slightly _ sarcastic which in his mind is a great sacrifice.

But Eugene is staring at him balefully with those big sullen eyes of his, and Snafu  _ aches.  _ It is unfair to want so much when the other person doesn't.

"How old are you?" Eugene asks, still glaring, and turning the non sequitur tables over on Snafu.

Snafu looks at him. Tries to take the man's soul out through his eyes and divine his motivations. Then Snaf laughs, as if he succeeded. "I stowed away on my first ship at twelve," he says, "Led my first mutiny at seventeen. That was a year ago. I guess that makes me eighteen."

"Jesus christ, you're younger than me," Sledge says all in one breath like a revelation.

"No one on this boat is more green than you, Sledge," Snafu points out.

The man in question ignores this comment. Instead he focuses on Snaf's age. "You don't look it. Eighteen, I mean."

Snafu arches his back with a bit of pride, "Probably because I'm the meanest asshole this side of the atlantic."

"You're not mean, you're just defensive," Sledge counters, "That's different than being malicious."

"All the men I sent down to Davy Jones' locker would probably argue otherwise," Snafu taunts. A smile is growing on his face and he doesn't know what to do about it.

"Yeah. Okay," Sledge teases, "You're a mean tough pirate, I know."

Snafu is laughing now. He can't seem to stop. It comes in bursts, like the waves far below his feet. Like all the joy stifled inside him bursts free for this one moment of absurdity. One moment when a pampered, second son dandy sees straight through Snafu's artifice and is entertained by it.

Somehow, in the midst of Snafu's fit, Eugene starts laughing too. So they chuckle together as the sun sets, co-conspirators in lies they both started. And when Snafu turns his face away from the glare and happens to glance at Eugene, there's a smile on Sledge's face. And a certain light in his eyes that terrifies Snafu. But the kind of terror that feels a little like hope.

"Why aren't you going to send me down to Davy Jones along with the rest?" Sledge asks.

Snafu slides off the rail and back onto the deck. He pauses a few feet away, and turns around, clinging to a rope for support. He gives a salacious grin and admires Eugene's profile lit by the remaining sunlight.

Eugene crosses his arms, settles back against the ship, and holds his head high under the scrutiny.

"You're too pretty to die, Sledge," Snafu winks.

He returns to his quarters alone.

He leaves his door unlocked.

Sometime in the night, Eugene sneaks inside without Snaf noticing.

It's only when Snafu wakes with the sun and rolls over to discover a tuft of red hair on the pillow next to him that the pirate captain discovers something new: the realization that it might be worse to have Eugene Sledge so near and off limits than to not have him in his bed at all.

Sledge sleeps peacefully. Exactly how Snafu might have imagined a Governor's son would. And deep inside, somewhere near that good samaritan bone of his, Snafu wants to preserve that innocence.

It's why he's taking the man home.


	2. Eugene POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene discovers he kinda likes Captain Shelton after all and the pirates get into a ship battle with the British Royal Navy

Waking up beside Captain Merriel "Snafu" Shelton - the most feared pirate in the Americas who once sacked an island fort in under an hour leaving no survivors - to watch him drool on his pillow, his face slack with sleep and with a single curl sticking up straight off his forehead, is a bit disingenuous.

Eugene is discovering that the only time Snafu actually looks his age is when he's asleep. A sight which Eugene is becoming weirdly accustomed to seeing, now that he's started sharing the Captain's quarters. Especially considering it conversely means that he rarely sees Shelton otherwise. Avoiding someone on a ship is nearly impossible and takes an intimate knowledge of the schooner's inner workings that borders on anal retentive. Snafu is apparently an expert.

Sleeping with the Captain hasn't done much to improve Eugene's standing amongst the crew either. The small torments, like his hammock being destroyed or his clothes being swapped with worse and worse cast offs from other men, stop. But they've been replaced with a new level of suspicion and distrust. For starters, everyone assumes that the two of them are also  _ sleeping together _ which is a rumor that Eugene doesn't know how to dissuade even if he wanted to. His newfound protection against snide remarks and rudeness seems to be solely based on the fact that everyone assumes he is the Captain's favorite. And so must be tolerated.

A Captain who Eugene hasn't actually said more than two words to in three days. Eugene almost misses the sexual innuendos, he is so desperate for someone to talk to. Luckily he only has to survive this for another five days before they reach Mobile.

As a result, Eugene spends a lot of time alone in the cabin, even when not sleeping.

He is surprised by how  _ interesting _ the cabin is. The level of detail in the maps is astounding. Some of Shelton's notes hold a finesse that Eugene has never seen before. It's impressive. Eugene corrects a few of Shelton's corrections, but otherwise everything is accurate.

What is also impressive is how quick Eugene learns that fiddling with Shelton's papers is a mistake. The first clue is that it finally forces Snafu to seek Eugene out. The second clue is how angry Snafu looks as he storms towards Eugene on the deck.

"Keep your hands off my maps!" Shelton growls.

"I was only editing a few spelling mistakes," Eugene argues.

"I don't care how it's spelled, I only care how I  _ hear _ it when I read it, cause that's all that matters," Shelton snaps.

"Spelling is spelling, it's either right or it isn't," Eugene retorts.

"They're  _ my words _ on  _ my maps _ from  _ my memory _ . I will spell them how I want!"

"I was trying to help!"

"You are as helpful as a skeletal monkey!"

"Fuck off, Shelton!"

"Fuck you, Sledge!"

"Give. It. A. Rest!"

"Shut up!"

"Fuck you Shelton!"

A sudden clang from a dropped cannonball interrupts their argument. They both stop and look. The entire crew is arrayed around them, watching like they're the latest gossip fodder.

Shelton straightens, his face still as mean as a snake. He silently grabs Eugene's wrist and drags him to the front of the ship. He throws Eugene against the large mast, and says coldly, "Touch my things again and I will lock you in the cabin until Mobile. And how many times do I have to say - don't argue with me in front of the crew."

"Wouldn't locking me in the cabin have the opposite effect? I could scribble all over your maps to my heart's content," Eugene refuses to be intimidated.

"Do that and you'll die."

"The maps would still be scribbled on."

"Sledge…"

"I suppose you could take away all the writing utensils. But if I was vengeful enough I could just shred everything."

"Don't."

"Where would you even sleep? Can't say I wouldn't mind having that big bed all to myself but it'd get awful lonely…"

"I slept in a hammock for the first sixteen years of life, I can certainly do it again."

"Your mama kept you in a hammock as a baby? Cause that seems a little impractical," Eugene's sarcasm is dripping.

"My mama was already dead when I was a baby," Shelton snaps.

"Oh," Eugene pulls up short in the conversation. He stares at Shelton with unsettled guilt. The Captain's eyes widen in anger and unintentional vulnerability. He clearly hadn't meant to reveal what he did.

"This boat's the only family I got left," Shelton brushes Eugene's concern off casually.

"Why do you call it that?" Eugene asks, changing topics deliberately.

"What?" Shelton looks confused.

"Boat. Why do you call your ship a boat?"

Snafu shrugs, "Cause that's it's name."

"You can't be serious," Eugene says flatly. Just when he thinks this pirate can't be any more of a farce, Shelton manages to surprise him.

"Look over the side, see for yourself," Shelton smirks proudly.

Eugene does. He gets a wolf whistle from the Captain as Eugene bends over the rail, which Eugene chooses to ignore. But sure enough, painted on the side of the ship is a single word, "Boat". It's such a dumb shock, his grip on the rail slips.

Strong hands immediately grab his hips to hold him in place and keep him from falling overboard.

"Shelton!" Eugene yelps.

"Just trying to keep you from dying before I can kill you," Shelton replies smoothly.

Eugene hastily clambers back down to the deck and turns around. Shelton has a lascivious grin on his face, and his eyes leisurely travel up from the general vicinity of Eugene's ass. Eugene can feel his face burn, and he curses his red hair and pale skin that gives away  _ everything _ . 

He also notices how  _ large _ Shelton's hands are proportionally to the rest of his body. It's not something he wants to dwell on. So instead he continues the conversation.

"Who in their right mind names a  _ schooner _ 'Boat'?" Eugene asks.

Shelton crosses his arms and takes a step away from Eugene to lean against the opposite rail. "Had to paint over the old name, so the original owner wouldn't come calling," Shelton says defensively as he stares at his feet, "Had to pick something." The Captain adds a little shrug to punctuate the end of his sentence that makes him look so blase it's almost comical.

A fondness over his familiarity with Snafu's gestures surges through Eugene's chest and makes him almost want to laugh again. "Snafu," he says, "You are ridiculous."

Shelton's head snaps up, and it's interesting to note that he's gone all wide-eyed again. Which is how Eugene notices he's slipped up and referred to the Captain by his crew nickname, aloud, for the first time.

Snafu studies Eugene quietly for a minute, as if he's trying to gauge what's changed, and then says in that damned laissez-faire drawl of his, "Can't go getting attached to things. It's dangerous. You name something, it'll only hurt more when it's gone." He stares at Eugene like it's an accusation.

Shelton stops avoiding him after their public fight. Even the crew members warm up to Eugene a little bit. Eugene starts tracking Snafu down, first pointing out a spelling error on a map, and then fixing it under the Captain's supervision rather than doing so unasked. Shelton, in turn, starts relying on Eugene for checking his memory. The Captain is planning a trip to Asia, by way of South America, and he is very eager to discover Eugene already sailed the length of the Americas a few times in his youth when his father was in the Navy as a doctor. Eugene has a natural talent for observing coastlines and an even stronger natural talent for memory.

Dare he say it, Shelton and he become friends - friends who lean in a little too close when studying maps or writing in log books. Every time Snafu's bare arm brushes against Eugene's, goosebumps rise along Snafu's skin. Sometimes Eugene wonders if he could get a similar reaction by intentionally running his hand along Snafu's shoulder. Or his back. Or down his stomach and straight to...

Eugene starts to admit that  _ he _ might be the one getting attached. One morning he wakes to find he's drifted across their shared bed in his sleep. His arm is wrapped snug around Snafu's waist and his face buried in Snafu's curls.

And as he comes out of his pleasant dream, he almost forgets he isn't exactly where he should be.

That morning happens when they're two days out from Mobile. And it also happens on the only day the quartermaster barges through the unlocked cabin door to wake the Captain.

Snafu sits bolt upright immediately. "Wha...what happened?" he slurs.

His perky half awake state is cute, Eugene notices. Eugene finds himself smiling, feeling warm.

"British Navy ship sighted, Captain," Burgie says formally, trying deliberately to not look at Eugene.

"Tonnage?" Snafu demands, instantly alert.

"120 gunner," Burgie says, which is answer enough.

"Shit," Snafu curses, "Slow us down, give us time."

"Aye," Burgie disappears and the door shuts, but his voice carries and they can hear him barking orders at the crew.

"Eugene…" Snafu says, his voice strangely tight.

It takes a second before he realizes, but Eugene quickly releases his grip around the Captain's waist. Snafu immediately springs to action, putting a shirt on for the first time since Eugene met him, and covering every square inch of his body with belts and weapons. He grabs a goofy green bucket hat off a hook on the wall and crams the hat over the soft curls that Eugene had been admiring only minutes before. The strange hat shadows Snafu's face, making his eyes big and luminous. Snafu notices him looking and smirks, "Lucky hat." The smile is wide but it doesn't meet his eyes. It makes Eugene wonder about the dark irregular stains patterning the hat's brim.

"Stay here," Shelton orders, pointing directly at Eugene before he slams the door shut.

Eugene crawls out of bed and throws on the nearest shirt - one of the Captain's more frilly ones. "Here" is a very relative term, he thinks, as he picks through Snafu's leftover weapons to find ones he can recognize and use. Technically, this entire ship could be considered "here". Especially if one is judging based on nautical longitude and latitude positioning.

When Eugene carefully sneaks out of the Captain's cabin no one notices. The deck is organized chaos. Every single soul aboard is running around like chickens with their heads cut off. And in the midst of it all Eugene sees Snafu at the wheel, standing calm and collected. The pirate captain's entire focus is on the white spec of sails in the distance.

Eugene lurches over to the side of the Boat. The deck seems to be jumping underfoot more than usual, and when Eugene glances over the rail at the water he realizes they're moving at a speed he wouldn't have thought physically possible.

The Boat is practically flying. The pirates have wind advantage over the ship they're going up against, and they're using every bit of it.

The biggest commotion is happening at the back of the ship. When Eugene goes to check it out, he is suddenly shoved into an empty place at the rope.

"Grab and pull," one of the sailors orders, "Steady."

Eugene does as instructed. He gets told to do a number of other tasks afterwards, and he hopes desperately he got them right. What a time for the crew to  _ finally _ decide to educate him.

For some reason the sailors seem to be lowering a complicated rig off the back of the Boat. Tied between the rig is a medium sized skiff, of a kind Eugene has never seen before. The skiff can carry maybe twenty five people max, and it seems odd to mobilize it for a fight against a massive warship holding at least five hundred men.

But then again, the stories about Captain Snafu always did say he was insane. 

When the order comes for the crew to man the cannons, Eugene finds himself alone once more. He makes his way back to the main deck and ascends the stairs to stand by Snafu's side. Snafu spares him a brief glance, and then ignores him. He's got his elegant long pipe perched between his lips and both hands on the wheel. And he looks as relaxed and carefree as Eugene has ever seen him.

Unexpectedly, it's Snafu who breaks the tense silence between them.

"That's a known press gang ship out there. If they board us, they'll get half our crew for desertion from the Royal Navy no matter what the sailor's current nationality is," Snafu says, "Penalty for that's worse than death."

"Desertion?" Eugene asks.

"After impressment, a navy sailor's got two choices: to stay and take the fifty percent chance he dies of scurvy… or run and accept the one hundred percent chance of hanging for desertion," Snafu's smirk suddenly turns feral, "But only if they catch him."

"And you?" Eugene asks, "Did you desert?"

"Do I sound British?" Snafu exaggerates his heaviest Cajun accent, "It was the Louisiana navy for me.  _ Volunteered _ ."

"Then you're safe. Why instigate a fight against a warship three times your manpower? Why not just hand the deserters over to the Royal Navy?" Eugene asks.

Snafu stares at him like he's seeing Eugene for the first time, and it makes Eugene's skin crawl.

"Were you born in Britain?" Snafu asks him.

"Yes…"

"Then they'd take you too..." 

"But I've never deserted the Royal Navy…"

"Don't matter," Snafu shakes his head.

"My father and I are naturalized Amercian Citizens…."

"Don't matter," Snafu repeats.

"They can't do that," Eugene protests.

"You see anyone out here 'sides me who is going to stop them?" Snafu gestures beyond the ship rail, into the wide open ocean.

A chill runs down Eugene's spine. "I'd take it to the courts. As soon as we landed in the nearest port. Surely the law would recognize my rights."

"Fifty percent chance of scurvy on every voyage, Boot," Snafu says, "You'd probably be dead before you even made it to your first port."

Eugene's heart is racing. He feels  _ trapped _ and he's not even in this hypothetical situation yet. He gives the white sails of the warship a second look. The recognizable, beautiful snap of the British flag blowing in the wind is a bit dulled to his senses now.

And a second flag is being jerkingly hoisted underneath.

Snafu snaps open his telescope and puts it to his eye. Eugene can't make out the signia on the second, smaller flag except that it's red.

"What's on it?" Eugene demands.

Snafu wordlessly passes the telescope over. Eugene expertly focuses it on the flags and waits for the wind to blow the red one straight.

It's blank.

"I won't let them take  _ anyone _ ," Snaf promises quietly as he closes the telescope and slips it into his coat. He refuses to look at Eugene, instead maintaining his determined dead-eyed stare at the opposing ship's flags.

Eugene tightens the belt of his borrowed sword. He pulls the pistol out, loads it, and returns it to the holster.

Snafu watches him as he does this. The Captain's face is devoid of emotion. When Eugene finishes, their eyes meet, and Snafu nods, once.

Eugene takes that as permission to remain on deck.

  
  
  
  
  


They are approaching the British warship at an alarming speed. The Captain might be calm, but Eugene's heart is unsteady as the sides of the two ships narrowly miss colliding into each other.

All worries aside, Snafu's steady hand guides them in. The pirate ship slides neatly alongside the warship. And then all calm is destroyed.

The last thing Eugene remembers in the minute of smooth sailing before the battle starts is the look of grim determination on Snafu's face and wild fear around his eyes.

The pirates let loose their cannons first, before the royal navy ship can react. Snafu's cannonshot does more damage - if only because his crew were better able to predict the opportune moment to fire.

By the time the 120 guns on the warship respond in kind, Snafu's ship is already halfway gone, having sailed straight past like a ghost.

"NOW!" Snafu yells over the din.

A volley of heavily weapon laden pirates, at least half of Snafu's sailors, swing from their ship to board the other. Snafu produces a rope from out of nowhere, hands another to Eugene, gives him a challenging look, and then follows his crew.

Eugene doesn't have much time to make a decision. Another scant seconds and the pirate ship will be beyond reach of boarding the warship. As it is, Eugene still times his jump wrong and he misses the top deck, instead landing somewhere around the second.

He hits the side of the wooden planks painfully hard. Snafu is long gone already, probably in the middle of the battle on deck judging from the noise above Eugene's head. Eugene takes a minute to cling to the decorative wood siding on the ship, and hangs over the water desperately. All the fancy lessons in military history and swordplay throughout Eugene's childhood seem too theoretical to be of any use in this situation.

One deep breath, two.

He scrabbles to take hold of the nearest porthole and starts climbing. When he swings over the deck rail and draws his sword, the battle is already a mess.

Instinct and the years of formal military training kick in, and Eugene finds himself fighting for his life. The sword he picked is light, and quick, and Eugene always was the best in his class at the academy. 

But it's one thing to spar with peers.

It's another to be facing down men wearing a uniform that Eugene was drilled to respect. He fights defensively, warding off blows instead of dealing them, and incapacitating sailors where he can. Carefully placed cuts to the extremities, or in one case knocking a particularly tenacious fighter out cold.

Eugene hesitates once, against a cabin boy not much younger than himself, and he is nearly killed for it. Snafu saves Eugene's life. Appears out of nowhere and cuts down the man behind Eugene who had been about to gut him while Eugene was distracted. Eugene hadn't even noticed because he was too busy staring in shock at the child - so young and already fighting pirates.

Snafu kills the boy too. The cut is clean, expertly done and relatively painless compared to the hacking and slashing going on around them. It nearly makes Eugene sick. He falls back against the wall of the deck cabin and sags for a brief minute.

Snafu's eyes are condemning. He turns his back on Eugene and immediately reenters the fray.

Eugene looks down at the man who almost killed him, and the boy who had been about to try before Snafu stopped him too.

Eugene knows what a solid red flag under the Union Jack means. He knows these men on the warship are fighting with no quarter given. They mean to kill every pirate in Snafu's crew. No surrender possible.

And, if Snafu is correct, it'd be impressment for Eugene until he got a message to his father. At best.

At worst, they'd kill him alongside all the other pirates, with no one to recognize him or his father's status, and he'd end up with a nameless watery grave.

No mercy for pirates or pirate associates.

After that Eugene stops paying attention to who he kills and who he doesn't. He fights his way to Snafu's side and sticks there, like a stubborn burr.

Fighting alongside Snafu comes second nature to him. The connection is immediate and somehow - Eugene isn't sure how - they anticipate each other's moves wordlessly. Snafu's swordplay is militaristic: clean, and crisp, and regimented. It's also absolutely, unrelentingly ruthless.

Gradually Eugene notices Snafu is maneuvering them in a certain direction. And when he looks up and sees the warship's Captain standing above them yelling orders, Eugene knows why. The pirate Captain is going to engage the naval commander in a duel.

Eugene briefly assesses the way the naval commander holds his sword, his stance, and he decides Snafu will not be fighting this man. All the ruthlessness in the world cannot make up for the finesse of a gentleman's sword training. His mind made up, Eugene pushes his way through the crowd, scales the balcony, and lands in front of the commander.

He hears Snafu yell his name, but he ignores it. He has one goal in mind.

The commander judges Eugene with a sneer, but Eugene settles into his firmest fighting stance, and waits, putting on as much of his instilled at birth regal air as he can muster. The two men circle each other.

"Captain Shelton," the commander addresses Eugene with the wrong name, "Given the stories, I expected you to be shorter."

Eugene says nothing. He waits.

The commander attacks first, hasty, and in return Eugene draws the first blood.

It's a subtle battle. It always is, when two opponents are closely matched in skill and training.

Fed up with the endless sword fight, Eugene fakes a slip up and gets his arm sliced from shoulder to elbow, but flips his swordhand, steps into an attack, and primly ends the commander's life.

When he withdraws his sword and cleans it on the dead man's jacket, Eugene is somewhat surprised at how little emotion he feels in the act.

"Sledge!" a hand grabs his arm and pulls him backwards. Snafu has taken off his shirt and starts quickly wrapping it around Eugene's gaping wound.

"Snafu!" Burgie appears out of the chaos.

Snafu switches gears immediately, grabbing Burgie's hand and yanking him up onto the relatively quiet wheel deck with them. 

"Hamm is dead," Burgie says, "He never made it to the brig."

Snafu eyes widen. Eugene thought he had seen Shelton scared before, but now the man is truly terrified. He glances at Eugene, stares at him coldly for a moment then says, "I'll get it done." Snafu tosses something to Burgie and Burgie tosses him a bundle in return. Snafu starts down the deck stairs, but glances back one final time at Burgie, "Make sure the crew get off okay." and flicks his eyes over to Eugene meaningfully.

Then he drops down the open hatch into the depths of the ship.

"Eugene…" Burgie breaks his concentration, "Help me get the crew organized."

Seeing Snafu scared scares the shit out of Eugene.

"No," Eugene says calmly, "Don't think I will," and leaps down to follow his Captain.

He finds Snaf at the very bottom of the brig. The man is clicking a mysterious package into place, stringing up several others. Snafu spends a few minutes finishing his task, and then moves over to a huddled mass in the darkest corner of the ship. It takes Eugene a second glance to realize the shadow is a person.

"Hey," Snafu calls over to the corner, "Kid." He crouches down a few feet in front of the hidden man - a royal navy sailor maybe a few years older than the pirate - and stares at him unblinkingly. Snafu's posture is not exactly intimidating, but it isn't kind either. The sailor shrinks back, despite being physically bigger and undoubtedly stronger.

Snafu looks almost delicate in comparison, so slight and lean in muscle. An illusion of innocence only broken by the blood covering his clothes and his cache of heavily used weapons. Underneath Snafu's cheekbone there is a streak of what Eugene desperately hopes is dirt. And clutched in his hand is a cruel looking knife Snafu had been using to cut and tie strings. It too is covered in dried blood.

The man on the ground looks terrified.

"Do you want a better life, Boot?" Snafu asks coldly, without emotion.

The man takes a few breaths to consider, and then nods.

Snafu stands, takes a step back but maintains eye contact. "Then get up," he orders, harsh, "and follow me."

And with that he turns around.

And sees Eugene.

Immediately his face goes from impassive to surprised. And then fury. He storms over, grabs Eugene's wrist. Shakes him. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demands, "I told you to get off this ship."

"No, you told Burgie to get the  _ crew _ off the ship," Eugene counters.

"That includes you!" Snafu snarls.

"No, it doesn't," Eugene says simply, "and you know it."

"Fuck, we don't have time for this," Snafu runs a hand through his hair and glances at the strange device he set up earlier. He gives Eugene one last glare and then starts up the ladder to the deck, "C'mon," he pauses and turns back one more time, "both of you!"

Slightly cowed, Eugene and the nameless sailor follow the Captain. They pass through each level of deck and go completely unnoticed. No one questions sailors passively coming up from below, and neither Snafu nor Eugene stand out as pirates. The royal navy is fairly distracted, anyway. Every man is working to move the dead and hastily fix the damage to the ship.

The top deck is a graveyard.

A single naval officer barking orders spares them no second glance. 

Snafu shoves the nameless sailor forward toward the rail and grabs Eugene's arm. "Into the water. Now!"

The sailor follows orders and he's overboard in seconds.

Eugene and Snafu are still running across the deck when the explosion goes off. Eugene gets one leg up on the rail before the blast hits him. Somehow in the madness Snafu grabs Eugene's hand. It doesn't help.

They lose contact with each other before they even hit the water. Snafu's hand goes slack and slips out of Eugene's grasp.

Eugene tries to scream the Captain's name but he can't because his mouth is full of water. He kicks his way to the surface, grateful for the extensive swimming instruction his mother gave him during the long hot summer days at the dike.

When he breaks free and takes his first breath, his immediate reaction is to look for a familiar hat. At first he thinks a black cloud of night stole the afternoon away, until he realizes it's smoke. Behind him, far above his head, every deck of the warship is spewing flames. The heat is intense, nearly burning his exposed face and neck. But even more unbearable are the screams.

He slips back under the water to drown out the noise. And remembers the Captain.

The next time he breaks the surface he screams Snafu's name, his voice barely discernible even to his own ears.

No answer.

He didn't expect one. How many sailors of Snafu's harsh upbringing know how to swim? The probability is slim. Immediately Eugene dives back down. Debris falling off the ship and getting tossed around in the waves make it nearly impossible to see.

He surfaces and dives again, over and over.

It's the bucket hat that catches Eugene's eye. The broad brim is flapped up, revealing Snafu's unconscious face, oddly peaceful amongst the fire and raining detritus. A darker stream of water circles around the back of his head as he sinks.

Without hesitation Eugene grabs Snafu underneath his arms and hauls him upward.

This time when they break the surface there are other bodies in the water, some floating silently, some yelling. One man tries to grab hold of Eugene's back in his drowning panic. Eugene loses Snafu briefly, but he pulls out his knife and cuts himself free. 

Eugene drags Snafu back to the surface, and starts treading water. He knows his endurance won't sustain them both for long. He avoids the floating broken mast of the ruined ship, knowing the ropes will entangle them and pull them down to the depths when it finally sinks. However, a chunk of deck railing bobs nearby. And Eugene quickly heaves Snafu's surprisingly heavy limp body across it.

Eugene grabs hold of an edge and starts trying to kick them away from the ship, to avoid the suction.

The warship is sinking steadily. Soon the screams will stop entirely. The relief Eugene feels at that thought is guilty. He can't continue to think on it. So he focuses on waking Snafu instead.

The man is still and cold. Enough so that Eugene knows he should assume the worst. Resuscitation is probably pointless.

He tries anyway.

Rolling Snafu on his side atop the decking is difficult while Eugene himself is still in the water, but he manages. He holds the planks as steady as he can while kicking to keep himself afloat and sweeps his fingers around Snafu's mouth to check if he swallowed any debris. Water trickles out but thankfully nothing else. Eugene squeezes Snafu's nose shut, seals his own lips to the Captain's, and breathes. He checks Snafu's pulse, and almost cries in relief when it's there - faint, but there. 

Another three breaths against Snafu's lips and the man spasms.

Vomit spews from his mouth onto Eugene's hands and face, and after it a deluge of water. Snafu's eyes open wide. He coughs and rolls over onto his stomach.

"Sledge?" the Captain's voice is hoarse. His eyes stay out of focus until they settle on one detail, "Your arm. It's bleeding again." He starts to wiggle, reaching out like he wants to fix it somehow. Eugene grabs his hand and holds him still.

"Don't worry about it, Snaf," Eugene orders.

Snafu coughs again and his eyes roll back into his head. He can still hold his neck up, and his relative lucidity is comforting, but Eugene can't forget about the blood mixing with the water around him when Eugene first found Snafu drowning. He's injured somewhere, and Eugene desperately hopes it wasn't the man's head.

He's still shocked the hat stayed on.

Snafu opens his eyes again and tips his head back to look at the burning hulk of the warship. The screams are quiet now. The only noise comes from those floating in the water - mostly wordless yells, or cries for help. Snafu continues in the same direction, looking up into the smokey sky above them. Which is when Eugene finally notices the strap attached to the bucket hat and tied securely underneath Snafu's pointy chin.

Eugene almost laughs. "Lucky hat, indeed," Eugene mumbles.

Snafu turns his face back to Eugene and coughs before repeating, "Sledge?". He still sounds desperate.

"You're okay," Eugene tells him, "You're okay."

Snafu still looks disoriented and lost, but he nods. His eyelids close and his head droops.

"Snafu!" Eugene says sharply.

No answer.

"Damn it you dirty old pirate," he cups the side of Snafu's neck, "You can't die on me  _ now _ ." When there is no answer, Eugene kicks himself forward out of the water and briefly knocks their lips together. Snafu's eyes snap open like he's a goddamn frog become a prince in a fairytale.

Eugene sighs in relief.

"'m younger than you," Snafu slurs, "and cleaner." He uses his thumb to wipe a remaining blob of his own vomit from Eugene's cheek.

"I know…" Eugene says, leaning his forehead gently against Snafu's, "I know."

Snafu doesn't close his eyes again. His stare is almost unnerving, in how unwavering it is.

They're eventually picked up by the small skiff, which had been floating nearby out of cannon range. When Eugene is pulled aboard after Snafu, he sees the skiff is half full of ammo crates and cannonballs. All with the royal navy stamp. The other half holds nearly every pirate who boarded the warship in the initial attack. Hamm is among the notable missing. There are a few unfamiliar faces, including the nameless sailor Snafu talked out of the hold.

"Ammunition?" Eugene asks, incredulous, "Ammunition is why we attacked that ship?"

Burgie nods curtly, brushing Eugene's concerns aside. The quartermaster's focus is on the Captain. He quickly and expertly tends to the small wound on Snafu's head.

"He nearly drowned?" Burgie asks Eugene.

"Yes," Eugene admits, at a loss for what to do next other than wait.

"Get the wet clothes off him," Bergie tosses a blanket at Eugene, "Get him warm. We'll reach the ship soon."

Eugene uses his knife to cut and then peel Snafu's clothes off him. Halfway through this process the Captain wakes up and starts shivering. Eugene hastily gets his pants off him and throws the blanket around his naked body. He guides Snaf into his lap and wraps his arms around the man's shaking bones.

Gradually the shaking stops and Snafu presses his face into Eugene's wet chest.

They sit together for the entire time it takes the skiff to reach the pirate ship. The crew who remained behind to sail the pirate ship during the battle hoist the skiff up the rig till they're level with the deck.

Both Eugene and Burgie carry the Captain into his cabin. They lay him on his bed and Eugene layers blanket after blanket on top of him. Every few minutes another crew member appears at the door with an extra blanket to offer.

Eventually Burgie has to turn the generous offers away for fear of losing Snafu underneath all that cloth. The quartermaster leaves as well, closing the door silently behind him.

And suddenly Eugene is alone with a very quiet, possibly asleep, shallowly breathing pirate Captain.

Eugene is prepared to sit by Snafu's bedside the entire night. He anxiously runs his hands over his face, and then folds his arms on the bedspread to form a pillow. His eyes close involuntarily, they are tired to the point of pain and still stinging from all the smoke.

At some point Eugene finally falls asleep.

He doesn't know for how long, but eventually the bed shifts under his head and he realizes Snaf is awake. It's too much energy to lift his head, so Eugene merely peaks out from above his folded arms.

"Hiya," Snafu says weakly with a goofy grin.

Eugene tries to prevent the exasperated smile that spreads across his face but he doesn't do a very good job of it.

"I'm Merriel Shelton," Snafu continues, his voice growing stronger as he talks, "My flag's flying at half mast right now, but for you I bet I could get it up to full."

Eugene lifts his head a tiny bit so he can talk without being muffled. "I can leave…" he threatens teasingly.

"Don't," Snafu's eyes go serious and he takes Eugene's hand, "I'm sorry. Please. Stay."

Eugene threads their fingers together and rests his head on both their hands.

Snafu's face glows. The color is returning to his cheeks.

"That blow to your head must've been serious," Eugene says with mock concern, "If you can't remember that we've already been introduced."

Snafu squeezes Eugene's hand. "Don't matter, as long as I remember this moment," Snafu says, as flippant and casually sensual as ever.

Eugene huffs, amused. He quietly observes Snafu for a moment, looking for any sign. Not seeing one, he takes a deep breath.

"Do you remember I kissed you?" Eugene asks in a rush. He clings to the pirate captain's hand like a lifeline.

Snafu gives a single nod.

They stare at each other for a long while. If Shelton's heart is beating even half as hard as Eugene's, the sound must be commanding most of his attention too. Eugene is aware of nothing but his own heart, Snafu's cold firm grip, and the Captain's eyes. He doesn't know what they might've just started, by finally admitting to this  _ thing _ between them out loud, but Eugene wants to find out.

A knock on the cabin door breaks the spell.

"Come in," Snafu calls.

Burgie pokes his head in, "Glad you're awake, Captain." The quartermaster then turns to Eugene, "Any signs of brain damage?"

Eugene shakes his head. Snafu meanwhile bristles. "You could ask  _ me _ ."

"Begging your pardon, Captain," Burgie acquiesces without sounding genuine at all, "We'll be in Mobile by tomorrow evening. The crew has been instructed to take our usual berth."

Snafu looks conflicted but he nods, "Good. Thank you."

Once the door closes behind Burgie silence settles over the two of them again.

"Guess it's our last night together, Sledge," Snafu says with a smirk.

His words send a sinking, horrible ache deep through Eugene's gut.

Eugene stands. He turns around, drags his blood stained shirt out of his pants and starts unbuttoning it. "You need to learn how to swim," Eugene orders Snafu. He strips the wet, ruined shirt off, tosses it onto the floor, and unbuckles his belt. His tattered pants fall to the floor as well, leaving him standing in front of the bed, facing Snafu, in nothing but his drawers.

Snafu blatantly refuses to take his eyes off Eugene's crotch, "You know, if you ever decide to take up piracy, you won't be able to wear that fancy underwear no more. Too expensive to ruin 'em every time a navy ship gets uppity."

"Snafu…" Eugene says, heavily laden with implications of ' _ be serious' _ .

Snafu sighs, casting his eyes to the ceiling. He hoists himself into a sitting position and leans over to fish around on the table nearby. "No point in learning to swim," he says as he fills his tobacco pipe, "If the sea takes you, it takes you."

"No," Eugene leans over, splays his hand flat against Snafu's chest, and shoves him down onto the bed, hard, "That is the stupidest thing I have  _ ever _ heard you say."

"I'm not learning to swim, Sledge."

"Yes. You are," Eugene says regally, still holding him down, "I'm going to teach you how to swim, even if it's the last thing I do."

"Why?" Snafu asks, eyes half closed, suspicious. His tobacco is dropped on the blanket next to him, completely forgotten.

A beat or two of anxious silence.

And then, instead of an answer, Eugene bends down and simply kisses him.

The kiss becomes heated quickly. Eugene's fingers tangle in Snafu's curls, getting to feel firsthand how soft they are. He is utterly caught up. Until a minute into it, he realizes what he is doing and breaks away abruptly. Eugene sits back on the bed.

"Gene…" Snafu groans. He follows Eugene's retreat, putting his hands around Eugene's waist and pulling him closer, so their chests are flush against each other.

And damned if Eugene's name in Shelton's mouth don't make him feel weak.

Snafu is running a hand up and down Eugene's back. There's a small smile on his face as he looks up into Eugene's eyes with a kind of emotion Eugene's never seen before.

"Gene." he repeats, more self-assured this time.

The self assurance and cockiness is what throws a cold bucket of water over Eugene. He licks his lips, tries not to think…but... "Guess you're finally getting what you wanted," he quips.

Snafu jerks back, insulted. "What is it you think I wanted?" the pirate's eyes are alert again.

"Me, in your bed. With you. Falling for all your," Eugene waves his hand in the air, "seductive tomfoolery." He shoves Snaf hard again, this time to push him away. And Snafu falls flat on his back, bouncing on the pillows.

Snafu holds his hands out limply, not touching Eugene, and watches him silently. With those big eyes that Eugene is only beginning to be able to read.

On their last night together.

The pirate is no longer putting any effort into seduction, not giving Eugene some cheesy line or winking at him. He is simply looking at him. But in a way Eugene doesn't recognize. It's an honest look, to say the least.

"Merriel," Eugene sighs, almost giving in.

Snafu's smile lights up his entire face. He lifts his chin haughtily. It's like he's come to life again, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, and every bit of his old teasing self returned.

"I definitely want that," Snafu says. He waits, patiently.

And Eugene comes to him. This time when he pushes Snafu down into the pillows, it's gentle, with a smooth full body grind amidst their kiss. Snafu catches Eugene's hips between his hands and pulls him in encouragingly.

No words need to be said, after that.

Eugene wakes late the next morning, stark naked and alone. Snafu probably snuck out around dawn for ship duties of some form or another, as the Captain usually does. This time, though, there is a glass of water and breakfast plate waiting for Eugene on the nightstand next to him. Sitting temptingly to the side of the plate is a pristine fresh apple. Eugene can't imagine how Snafu procured one. Them being on a ship that's been at sea for six months and all. He grins, and stretches, and sprawls across the entire bed to fall back asleep.

He sleeps until the heat becomes unbearable and sticky. Snafu still hasn't shown his face. But outside the cabin door Eugene can hear laughter, and the occasional shout of lively discussion. He drags on the cleanest clothes he can find - more of Shelton's of course, and steps outside.

And there, in the middle of the deck, seated at a makeshift table with an elegant quill poised and a broad grin on his face, is the pirate captain himself, wearing a truly ridiculous feathered hat. And little else.

The entire crew is gathered around their captain, sitting on various ship parts and ropes that were never meant to be chairs.

Shelton is talking to the quartermaster who stands just off to the side, and doesn't notice Eugene at first. Until Eugene makes his way forward, drawing the attention of the crew as he passes.

Shelton's eyes turn toward Eugene then. And simultaneously his grin turns devilish. His gaze travels down the ruffled dress shirt Eugene stole from the captain's own sea chest. "Nice of you to join us, Sledge."

Eugene shifts uncomfortably, well aware of the crew measuring his every move. "What's this about?" he asks.

Still grinning, Snafu pushes the scroll he's been writing on across the table towards Eugene.

Eugene steps forward, thumbs the parchment closer, and reads it over.

Eugene closes his eyes, and shakes his head. "Snaf, I can't." He slides the paper away.

Burgie's eyebrows go up at the very familiar nickname.

Snafu slides the paper back.

"It's a communal decision. You're one of us now," Snafu drawls, "A pirate."

"That my reward for fucking you?" Eugene challenges.

"Nah, that's it's own reward," Snafu's smile never falters.

Not a single crew member even so much as blinks an eye over Eugene's public declaration.

Eugene still hesitates, staring at the blank space next to his name.

"You're not signing in blood," Snafu drawls, "It ain't for life, Sledgehammer."

Eugene's eyes snap up to meet Snaf's. The fondness he sees there is as deep and unwavering as every other part of Snafu's headstrong personality. Eugene knows how uncompromising Snafu's loyalty can be when the man chooses to give it. Eugene is beginning to realize the fearless Captain Shelton might have a weakness after all, and it might be him.

Burgie chuckles at the new nickname, "Sledgehammer. I like that."

Bill groans and makes a snide comment.

Eugene ignores it. He ignores everyone. The decision may be communal but the only opinion he cares about in this moment is the one from the man looking straight at him with that wonderfully familiar gleam in his eye and devil grin.

Eugene calmly leans his hand against the table and scrawls his name at the bottom of the ledger.

The crew lets out a rousing cheer, with a lot of laughter, and Eugene can feel his face burn red. He didn't expect quite such a reaction. He tries to play it off casual, but when he turns back to Snafu and slides the contract over to his Captain, Eugene smiles helplessly. He feels a giant surge of thrill that could probably become addictive if he's not careful.

Snafu simply nods at him in acknowledgement.

"Hey  _ Sledgehammer _ ," Bill interrupts, "Come help me with this rope."

Eugene nods, and joins the crew at their work, and as easy as that something in the ship's dynamic shifts. And suddenly Eugene is included in the pirates' "us against the world" circle.

Eugene spends his last day aboard the Boat working. He is only pulled away from his duties as the sun is setting when Snafu requests his help drafting a new map. At first Eugene thinks it's merely a trick to get him alone again. But then he enters the captain's cabin and sees the disarray there. It's even worse than before, scrolls pulled out and paper everywhere. Snafu keeps Eugene up half the night checking and double checking measurements. He picks Eugene's brain for every scrap of detail Eugene can remember about the Eastern coast of South America.

And Eugene tries to pretend seeing all this careful planning and research doesn't hurt when he knows he is not going with them. He tries to pretend he doesn't achingly  _ want _ to go with them.

After Snafu asks him to redraw Cape Horn for the third time, Eugene decides he's had all he can take. Instead of following orders, he grabs Snafu by his hips, drags him into his lap, and kisses him. And tries to pour all of that unspoken wishful thinking, or daydreaming, or longing, or what-have-you, into it. If this is the last time he gets to wrap his arms around Snafu, he is not going to waste the opportunity with mapmaking.

Snafu, unfortunately, has other ideas. He breaks the kiss and tilts his head up out of reach. "And which channel was it you said was the widest and best for a ship of our size?" He asks. His mind is clearly elsewhere.

Eugene groans. He stands. Snafu slides off his lap with a small frown of disappointment. Eugene throws himself backwards onto the bed, covering his eyes with his arm to block out the flickering candlelight. "I already told you the name a thousand times. And I wrote it down. Both in your journal, and on the map that you made me redraw  _ twice _ ."

Snafu starts flipping through his journal to check. Eugene props himself up on his elbows to watch.

"Gotta squeeze all that knowledge out of you before you're gone Sledgehammer," Snafu says.

"At the moment I'd rather you squeeze me for other reasons…" Eugene mutters.

"I found the name," Snafu announces, his finger poised on his book, "but the spelling is different than the one on the map. Which is correct?"

"The map," Eugene says tiredly, "I checked that one more."

Snafu starts blotting out the name in the book and rewrites it.

"Merriell," Eugene says.

The pirate Captain looks up, eyes innocent and wide.

"If you don't get over here and fuck me in our last hours together instead of reiterating on information you know I  _ already _ recorded for you...I'm never speaking to you again," Eugene threatens, trying to keep his manner teasing but also hopefully dead serious enough that Snafu drops his preocupations and comes to bed.

"Aint ever gonna speak to me again either way," Snafu smiles and shrugs, but there is a look of vulnerability in his expression that makes Eugene ache further.

"Don't do this," Eugene says.

"Do what?"

"Act like I don't matter to you. Like I'm never gonna see you again."

Snafu laughs. He saunters over to the bed, climbs across Eugene to hover over him, and holds Eugene's gaze like it's a promise.

"You're a governor's son. I'm a pirate. Ain't ever going to live in the same world," Snafu says.

And Eugene can't argue against the truth.

They lie there together, close but not touching, neither one of them willing to make the first move. Eugene doesn't know what to say.

So he turns away. He shifts on the bed, turning his back to his Captain, and closes his eyes. If he can't do anything else, he desperately wants to try and sleep. His heart is beating fast and irregular in his chest, though. And every nerve in his body refuses to calm down.

Snafu doesn't touch him, still doesn't say anything either. The bed lifts as he steps away to his desk.

The Captain finishes writing in his log book. Eugene hears him shuffling papers around for a bit, before Snafu douses the lights one by one, and then comes back to bed. He very carefully lies down next to Eugene, trying not to jostle him or wake him up. Eugene feels a hand snake around his waist, and Snafu's chest press against his back.

Snafu kisses the nape of Eugene's neck.

"You'll go home," he whispers into Eugene's ear, "and forget about me. And be better off for it. I ain't made for a normal life, like you."

He falls asleep tight against Eugene's back. Snafu's gentle breaths tickle Eugene's neck and his pointy chin digs uncomfortably into the meat of Eugene's shoulder. Nevertheless, Eugene wants to spend every minute he possibly can wrapped tight in Snafu's embrace.

Eugene doesn't sleep a wink.

Sometime in the night the ship docks in port. Snafu sleeps peacefully. Eugene hears the commotion but decides to stay in bed.

He doesn't move until dawn comes and he can feel Snafu wake up with the sun. Before the pirate can get out of bed, Eugene rolls over and looks him straight in the eye. He grabs Snafu around the waist and shuffles closer until they're nose to nose.

Snafu smiles disarmingly and he looks a little nervous, but he doesn't pull away. "You're home now," He tells Eugene, and jerks his head towards the window.

Eugene kisses him.

He kisses Snafu every chance he gets. In bed, out of bed, in between putting clothes on, after organizing the mess of papers from last night, before making plans to go into port - whenever there is a brief opening Eugene drags Snafu close, gets his hands in his curls, and presses their lips together desperately.

Every time they break apart, Snafu's smile grows wider and more confident.

And every time Eugene doesn't want to let go.

He briefly wonders how long he can convince his father to keep Captain Shelton in port for "scurvy treatment". But then he rejects that idea because he knows how much the delay would disappoint Snafu's next plans.

Which only leaves one option - Eugene has to find a way to go with them.

He keeps this new idea to himself. They still have to meet his father after all. Snafu needs to get a fake scurvy checkup, and the pirate deserves to collect the substantial reward the Governor offered for Eugene's safe return. So he follows along with Snafu's plans to go into town.

Before they leave the ship, Eugene pauses on the gangplank, a sailor's bag full of gifted old clothes swung over his shoulder to remember the crew by. He turns back, to admire the ship. The Boat is beautiful, so early in the morning, the sails already providing roost to dozens of honking gulls.

Eugene has a soft spot in his heart for the annoying birds, as loud as they are. Snafu likes to brag he uses the gulls for target practice, but Eugene has never seen him actually hit one.

"Santa Alma," Snafu says, already farther down on the gangplank but waiting patiently for Eugene to catch up. The pirate is looking at his ship with pride.

"Saint what?" Eugene asks.

"Alma. That's the real name of my ship, Sledgehammer," Snafu explains with the most shit eating grin Eugene has ever seen, "'Boat's easier to say, though. So don't go spreading it around."

Snafu has that look about him - when he's smiling and happy and fully alive, exuding energy - that's irresistible.

Eugene laughs. He strides down the last few steps of the gangplank, snatches Snafu's feathered monstrosity off his head (it might've been a gull at one point), and uses the giant hat to hide their faces when he pulls Snafu into a final lingering kiss.

He's decided. This isn't him coming home, this is only a stop in a port to let his father know he is alive and well. He doesn't  _ care _ about any of his old, petty responsibilities anymore. His old concerns seem shallow in the wake of everything he has been through.

He tightens his hold around Snafu's waist.

He's not going to let go. He will be leaving with Snafu. His family will understand.

Some part of this thought process must come across in their kiss, because Snafu gently pushes him away and looks up into Eugene's face curiously.

Which conveniently is also when his father's soldiers decide to converge on them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this comes Persipnei's part two: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20134909/chapters/48390574


End file.
